My Logistics Story

 At various times in my Air Force career....I was often stuck with ordering or receiving items that the office/vault required.  

One day in the late 1990s....I got called to the front door of the vault.  The supply delivery guy was there.  He had a box for our organization.  So I signed for it and opened it at the desk.

Here was a fair sized box, with around forty-odd reels (all newly packed).  It didn't really make any sense....we had nothing in the vault that ran on reels, and hadn't had such a device in eight to ten years.  

So I went to the supply office and asked stupid questions.

They dug through the records, and that around 1990 (approximately eight years prior)....someone in the office ordered around forty of these reels.  Money was allocated, and the purchase was made, but put on back-order.  

So I looked at the paperwork and asked....how much did they pay?  It was near $100 each (premium reels).....$4k was involved.  

I told the 'kid'....we didn't really need these...was there anyone to give it to?  Nope was the response.

I went back to the office and spent ten minutes talking to my Captain.  His advice....dump them.  So I prepared paperwork....to turn them into supply.  Well....they turned down the reels.....telling me to turn them into DRMO (Defense reutilization).  But I had to get a stock number, and there was none.

So I went back to supply 'help' office and spent thirty minutes with the 'kid' again.....inventing a stock number, and getting a slip to turn these in.

Man-hour wise?  From beginning to end?  There's probably five hours of time wasted on this.